Broward Public Schools have introduced an expansive training program to keep safe the district’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning students.

The program — already a model for larger school districts nationally — includes a 66-page training manual, LGBTQ Critical Support Guide, and 25-minute video that features Broward teens, parents and educators.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

HELENA, Mont. -- The woman who led the court battle to strike down a Montana law that made gay sex illegal knows that having the unconstitutional law struck from the books is a symbolic act.

All the same, Linda Gryczan began to cry when the state House finally brought the issue to the floor on Monday.

"I was actually surprised. Knowing it's a symbolic victory, I didn't realize how important it was going to be until it was there," Gryczan told the Great Falls Tribune ( http://gftrib.com/17qIski) in a story published Wednesday.

Senate Bill 107, the measure that strikes from the state code the obsolete language criminalizing gay sex as deviate sexual conduct, passed its final legislative hurdle Wednesday with a 65-34 vote in the House.

The Senate approved the bill earlier in the session, but it took the vote of more than 60 representatives to remove the measure from the House committee where it was stuck to hold floor votes on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The bill now goes to Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock. The governor's office declined to say Wednesday whether Bullock plans to sign the bill.

New York – With the Republican National Committee beginning its spring meeting today, Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry released a letter denouncing a draft resolution on excluding same-sex couples from marriage. The letter urges party leaders to dismiss the resolution and move toward inclusion of gay and lesbian Americans.

“As young conservatives, we call on the members of the Republican National Committee to dismiss this resolution out of hand and save the Party from further marginalization. Instead, we should look to the leadership of elected leaders like Senators Portman and Kirk and Representatives Ros-Lehtinen and Hanna who are already leading the way to a stronger and more consistent conservative movement.”

A variety of Young Conservatives leadership committee members are signers on the letter:

S.E. Cupp

Matt David

Tyler Deaton

Margaret Hoover

Abby Huntsman

Sarah Longwell

Ed Lopez

Liz Mair

Meghan McCain

Marco Nunez

The letter points to the growing support for the freedom to marry, with a recent ABC poll finding that 52% of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents under the age of 50 in support. It asks the party to follow the recommendation of its "Growth and Opportunity Project" report, issued last month, and move forward with positions more inclusive of gay Americans.

PARIS -- The shocking photo of a homophobic attack victim in Paris that went viral on social media this week and caused the French interior minister to weigh in was used as an emblem in a pro-gay rally Wednesday evening.

The image of Wilfred de Bruijn's cut and bruised face was brandished by gay groups during a demonstration of several thousand people as evidence of their claim that homophobic acts have tripled nationwide over opposition to a law legalizing gay marriage.

This week, the French senate will conclude its debate on a law legalizing same-sex marriage and adoption, which is expected to pass. It's been a rocky run since it was unveiled last November by President Francois Hollande's Socialists and split the majority-Catholic country.

But whichever way the Senate votes, the image of De Bruijn's battered face has made for a symbolic end to five months of bitterly divisive protests.